Chasing after a Summer Dream
by Popopoyotl
Summary: Summer vacation has ended, and neither Ryuuji or Taiga are any closer to their respective crushes. That, however, is the least of their problems. Ryuuji is haunted by Ami's words from the cave, Taiga's father has returned for her, and their shared nightmare is twisting into something…brighter.
1. Chapter 1

Ryuuji liked to sleep.

It was a small fact about him, really only known by his mother, that he enjoyed being able to get a good night rest, or even able to take a nap during the few rare days where there was no work to be done (those days seemed to be happening less and less however).

At first it would seem strange, the stereotypical thinking _'Don't normally only lazy people like to sleep'_? Ryuuji was _anything_ but lazy, being able to keep up top grades while also maintaining a clean and (somewhat) stable household. Add in a recent individual that has come into his life that tests his patience and pain tolerance every day, and his life was probably the busiest out of all the students in his school.

It was because of these things, however, that Ryuuji highly enjoyed any chance to sleep; there were just normally too many chores for him to do during the day to take any naps normally. So being able to sleep at night was a great comfort for him. For just a few hours he is able to escape the world of the living, gather his strength, and prepare himself for the next day.

Prepare himself he would need to. It was the first day of the second term, the culture festival was coming up, and he wanted to finish cleaning up the mess his mother left during summer vacation.

So why was he sitting up on top of his futon, looking into his box of songs and hand-written poems at two in the morning when he could be resting?

Ryuuji knew he was going to regret this later today, but he just couldn't sleep. He hadn't been able to get much sleep at all since he returned from Kawashima Ami's beach house two days ago; he was just waiting for the crash he was inevitably going to feel.

The memory of that conversation in the cave just wouldn't leave him alone.

"_Takasu-kun, you and Minori just don't match, you know?"_

Those words were playing again and again in his mind, causing him to reflect and thus lose sleep. It was as if Kawashima was in his head, repeating her words just to mess with his mentality. He wouldn't doubt the model doing such a thing if she had that ability.

"_Minori is the sun and you are the moon. If you try to stand next to her with only admiration in your heart, you will burn out." _

Ryuuji scowled, a look not normally seen on him, as he cursed Kawashima's talent to confuse him, a talent he was sure she took pride in. He was still unsure of what caused her to start spouting all that about Kushieda Minori and him not being equal, or him needing someone like her. While he was sure she was just teasing (as always) about being with him, he just couldn't help but feel now that when talking about Kushieda and him, Kawashima was being serious.

At first, he had dismissed her words, sure of his own feelings for Kushieda. Ever since he had seen her in his first year of high school, he had been captured by her lively spirit and beautiful smile. She was loud and bright, letting the world know exactly who she was, something that he was unable to do with his looks causing misunderstandings and thus making him self-conscious.

Was it any wonder why he had fallen for her?

It was only after he returned home, where the fun of summer vacation couldn't occupy him, did Ryuuji really think back on Kawashima's words and realized how _little_ he actually knew of Kushieda.

He had built up this image of her, this active character that was energetic and happy even in _his_ presence, where others would instantly shun him out of fear. It was because he had made this image of her, that Ryuuji missed other parts of Kushieda's personality from his passing interactions with her.

Then his second year started, and his image of Kushieda had changed.

He had found out a side to Kushieda he didn't know about; a very egocentric individual, unable to listen to others unless someone was either louder or stronger than her (both of which a certain friend of hers was). He found out about her eccentric, workaholic personality, having more jobs than he could count and no time for anyone outside of school.

"_Hey, let's look for UFO's together sometime?"_

…He found out about her odd view on love.

Love that he couldn't tell if it involved him or not.

Ryuuji started looking through his box; he couldn't help but wonder how he ended up picking these items to woo Kushieda with when he didn't even know her tastes. He didn't know her type of music, whether she liked poetry or not, and being the tomboy that she was, Ryuuji didn't even know if she used perfume regularly!

He shook his head, just much of the red-head did he actually know before this? How much of Kushieda did he actually fall in love with and how much of it was not, as Kawashima said, admiration?

Damn her, she had the strangest ways of making him think too much on these serious topics.

The teen looked at his clock and cursed mentally, it was now four in the morning.

How the hell did that happen? Two hours couldn't have pasted that fast. Great, the first day of the new semester, and he was going to go to it exhausted, regardless of any sleep he got now.

It was way too early to start his morning chores, so Ryuuji decided to put away the box and lay back down on his futon, with his hands behind his head. At the very least, he could stop stressing about his doubts for Kushieda. He wouldn't be seeing her for a few more hours anyway.

She probably wouldn't notice him at first in the morning; she and Taiga would be too busy in their morning greeting.

Taiga…

He wondered what she was going through right now. She didn't want to show it, but ever since they came back from the beach house, he had noticed something…_off_ about Taiga, though he couldn't pinpoint what exactly. Maybe something else had happened with Kitamura that she didn't tell him about.

While they had agreed that they would focus on getting him closer to Kushieda during the summer trip, Ryuuji couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he should have helped Taiga get with Kitamura instead. He was a hopeless cause, running after a rather confusing girl. At least Taiga had confessed once before, though Kitamura didn't understand because of his dense personality. He was sure if they kept on pushing it with him, Kitamura would eventually understand Taiga's feelings.

He had to; otherwise Taiga's and Ryuuji's future would end up…

"_Ryuuji…you know, that dream we had…thinking about it, maybe it isn't so…"_

Horrible.

Or maybe not so.

Ryuuji _still_ didn't know what to make of that dream exactly. He originally thought of it as nothing more but a conjuration of watching badly made scary movies too late at night. However, he was disturbed in the morning when he found out Taiga had the exact same dream. Once he told Taiga, she was convinced it was a vision warning them of a terrible future if they didn't put more effort in getting together with their respective crushes.

At first, the idea of being married to _Taiga_ of all people made him shudder and put more effort into his advances with Kushieda. Taiga was violent and abusive, with every day being a test of patience for him. He didn't want to think about how life would be being married to her.

It wasn't until that one night at the beach house, where Taiga and he were in the living room after eating a midnight meal of curry that his thoughts changed.

It was odd of how he was nervous around Kushieda, trying not to act like a fool around her. Yet during that night with Taiga, Ryuuji could say his mind was almost at peace. It didn't matter that they were miles out from town in some large unknown house; with Taiga there it had felt almost like he was at home. She just had that feel of familiarity and security about her.

It was that night, when Taiga mentioned the dream again, that Ryuuji realized that the dream wasn't too bad.

He had the feeling that perhaps Taiga was going to say the same before she stopped herself.

They already spent most of their time together; Taiga only went back to her apartment to sleep (sometimes) and to bathe. Being married wouldn't be much different.

Well..except for certain _things_ that married couples do. This was, of course, why it just couldn't happen. He still had some feelings for Kushieda, despite his doubts, and Taiga loved Kitamura.

It was as simple as that.

Ryuuji sighed, sinking further into his futon. His life was sure strange wasn't it? He couldn't even understand the girl he fancied; much less speak to her in a casual fashion. Yet he had another girl who was constantly at his house, eating and sometimes sleeping there and he was trying to set her up with another guy.

He almost preferred it when everyone was scared of him and Taiga wasn't in his life.

Almost.

Back then he only had a few friends, he watched Kushieda from afar, and he didn't know of the existence of the Palm-Top Tiger. He didn't have to worry about feeding a fourth mouth at home, and his time was just filled with ridding his residence of mold and dust. It was a somewhat easy, non-confusing life.

However, when compared to his life now, it seemed…empty.

He couldn't help but be amused at that. Taiga sure changed a lot in his life.

He was unsure of how much more time had passed since he laid down, or how many more hours he spent thinking about his life, but slowly Ryuuji felt himself relaxing into his bed. Thoughts started to haze, his eyes closed, and his breathing took a calm, steady rhythm.

Before Ryuuji finally obtained the sleep he oh so desired, he had one last cognitive thought.

'_I wonder if I have changed Taiga's life just as much…'_

…

_White._

_That was the only color he could see. He could turn his head left or right, up or down. All that was left in his vision was an endless void of white._

_It was strange, moving through this empty space, it felt as if he were almost swimming. Not quite though; he didn't need to move his arms or legs to move. He just glided through the ocean of paleness surrounding him. _

_While this space was comfortable, it was boring. Plain. He wanted more than…whatever this was. So he did the first thing that came to mind, he tried moving upward._

_That was a mistake._

_He poked his head out of the void, and found himself blinded by a bright light. He howled at the burning sensation and ducked his head back into the endless space below._

_What the hell was that? Whatever that was, he did _not _want__ to experience that again._

_Well, since he couldn't go up, he decided to go down._

_He was surprised when he escaped the void, and found out that the whiteness above him was not a strange ocean._

_Above him were the clouds in the sky and just above them was the sun, shining down with an intense glow._

_That meant…he was flying? _

_Yes, he was flying. He could see the earth below him, he could see the forest, he could see the hills, and even the mountains that hopelessly tried to touch the sky. _

_All of those things held little interest, however, compared to something he could see running across the land._

_She was small; he could barely make her out as she ran through the forest. He could sense her power though; she had an aura that could be felt even from the great sky above. This creature could match him, and given the chance, she could destroy him._

_He didn't care though; he knew who this creature was. She could destroy him, but she wouldn't. _

_She needed him too much. _

_He yelled out for her from above, hoping to get her attention. His roar rang through the sky, falling down onto the earth under him. Yet the creature didn't stop running, she didn't even give a response back to him._

_What was going on? Why was she not reacting to him?_

_He roared again and again, and each time the creature didn't reply._

_Couldn't she hear him? Was something wrong with her?_

_His howls become more desperate and raspier as he put all his effort into getting her attention. She gave him no heed, however, and he was beginning to lose sight of her in the forest._

_NO!_

_He couldn't lose her. He had to be at her side._

_Just as she needed him, _he_ needed _her_._

_So, in one last attempt, he cried out as loud as he could, a name escaping from his maw._

"_TAIGA!"_

...

"TAIGA!"

Ryuuji sat up in his futon, throwing the blanket off of him as he gasped for breath. His hand ran through his hair as the teen tried to calm his heart beat.

What…what the hell was that? A burning sun, flying through the clouds, the earth underneath him.

Calling out for Taiga.

What the heck type of dream was that?

Ryuuji was thrown out of his thoughts as he heard a large _Thunk_ come from his balcony.

His groggy mind could only come up with an intelligent "Huh?" before he heard the sound repeated itself several times. Curious of what the sound was, Ryuuji got out of his futon and opened his balcony.

He froze.

Directly across of him was a predator, glaring intensely at him. Her eyes promised pain and torture for disturbing her slumber, her body language hinting at her hidden agitation. In her possession was a weapon that Ryuuji knew she could use, she had tried to kill him before with it.

Of course it was none other than Aisaka Taiga looking out of her apartment window, using her bokken to smack the side of Ryuuji's balcony.

"What is it you stupid dog? Why are you calling out for me this early in the morning?" Taiga hissed out, her anger evident in her tone.

Ryuuji blinked, before turning his head to look at his clock.

'_Crap.'_

The clock read six fifteen. Normally he would be up by six fifty, and he would wake Taiga up a little past seven. This was way earlier than Taiga was used to.

"Well you mongrel?! Stop ignoring me!"

Ryuuji sighed, why couldn't he just have normal dreams that _didn't_ involve Taiga? Whenever they involved Taiga, it always ended up with her being annoyed at him when he woke up.

If this was what sleeping resulted in, he might just become an insomniac.

_SMACK!_

"OW! Did..did you just throw that thing at me?!"

"Well what else am I suppose to do when you won't _frickin' answer me_!"

Yep, definitely becoming an insomniac.

* * *

Author's Note: Now, if you actually managed to get through the piece of crap that is my writing and are reading this, good job and thank you for your self induced torture!

Moving on to being serious stuff now, I started this idea with a simple idea that is splattered all over this chapter, just exactly _why_ does Ryuuji like Minori?

As far as I seen and read, they never fully explained why Ryuuji loves Minori in the anime/manga/light novels. For the most part I think he mentioned in the light novels that he likes her because of her attractiveness and that she wasn't scared of him. Otherwise though he had no personal interaction with her that didn't involve Kitamura in some fashion. So I find it amusing that he has such affections for her, then second year comes up and he finds out all these different sides of her that he didn't know about. I still wonder how he picked all those songs and what he wrote as poems for her...

Actually, that would be amusing. Challenge for anyone who beats me to this: Someone write a fic involving Ryuuji's collection of songs and poems.

Continuing on...

As much as I could conjure up different explanations of why Ryuuji likes Minori (mainly that she has the confidence and self expression he desires but doesn't have thus is why he admires/loves her) a cannon explanation would help. But bleh, I will take what I can get and bend it to my will.

Hope you enjoyed this first chapter, plenty more are coming! Maybe even more one-shots to populate this small area of the site.

P.S. Am I the only one who kinda finds it awkward to type Kitamura's first name? If done like Ryuuji with two u's, it would come out as Yuusaku, which looks very awkward to me for some reason. If done properly like Ryūji, with the ū indicating a long u or two u's, it comes out to Yūsaku. To be honest, it is a pain in the ass to constantly paste their names like that, yet I can't bring myself to just type it as Yukasu. Huh.


	2. Chapter 2

Autumn, it is such a melancholy yet pleasant time of the year. The possibilities summer is coming to an end, and the harshness of winter is coming ever so closer. Children are returning to school, crops are to be harvested, and families start making their plans for the holidays. The transition from the blazing hot weather to cold frost was happening-

"GAH! Why is it still _sooo_ HOT?! It is the first of September!"

Scratch that. This particular area of Japan was stubborn about keeping the summer heat to torment kids walking to school.

"Mmm…"

"You've got nothing to say, stupid dog?"

"Mmm…"

"At least answer me coherently mongrel!"

"Sorry Taiga…"

Taiga blinked, staring at the taller, slouching teen walking next to her.

She knew something was wrong with Ryuuji ever since that morning, starting with when he woke her up by yelling her name. After calming down and getting dressed, she looked back and realized that it seemed that even _he_ was surprised that he called her name (he never did tell her why he did, only telling her to come over for breakfast). How is someone surprised by that? Unless he didn't mean to call her name, but the way he yelled it…

The morning only got weirder from there on.

When Taiga got to the Takasu residence, she was greeted by a tired looking Ryuuji with a large red mark on his face (from the flat of her bokken she had thrown at him) who silently served her with breakfast.

The lack of any complaints and conversation from Ryuuji was disturbing enough to make Taiga stop any aggressions she had that morning. It was rare to see him look so exhausted, even that one night where she had first assaulted him for that love letter Ryuuji only got maybe two or three hours of sleep and he still looked wide awake in the morning.

So to see him like _this_ unnerved Taiga.

It didn't help that throughout the morning, she could feel her cell phone vibrating within her bag. She knew exactly who was calling, and she didn't feel like talking to _him_.

Being woken up early, the strangeness of the morning, _that person_ constantly calling her, Ryuuji's silence during their walk to school, and the _blasted heat_ all added to her frustration that finally caused her to lash out and yell at Ryuuji.

To which he apologized to her.

Ryuuji _never _apologizes when she gets into this type of mood, because he had nothing to apologize for. It was just her being irritated as always.

Something was definitely wrong with Ryuuji.

Now how to go about finding out what exactly?

Bah, she could figure it out later. They were nearing the school gates, and she could see someone familiar in the distance.

"Morning, Minorin!"

At the yell, Minori turned around in surprise before smiling happily as she spotted Taiga waving at her and Ryuuji walking next to her.

"Oh, hey there you two! How have you been doing? Well?"

Minori kept on smiling, and Taiga eyed Ryuuji from the corner of her vision, waiting for the stupid mutt's eyes to shine at the sight of-

Wait.

For the second time that morning, Taiga blinked in confusion as Ryuuji's eyes remained calm and tired as he looked at Minori.

"Ah, good morning Kushieda. How are yo-"

Ryuuji was interrupted by a long-haired boy grabbing onto his shoulders, causing the teen to glare in annoyance.

"SUP GUYS AND GALS! How was your summer vacation? Did you finish your summer homework? Did you brush your teeth? Did you shower?" yelled out the long-haired teen who was, in Taiga's opinion, grinning like an idiot.

Ryuuji sighed, "Why are you so happy, Haruta?"

"Oh ho ho ho!" yelled Minori, pointing at Haruta. "I bet someone had a blast during summer vacation!"

"Summer vacation is in the past!" Haruta shouted out, surprising Minori, "We are living in the new semester! Onto the new stage-"

At some point Taiga started to tune out the obnoxiously loud boy, who was starting to hurt her ears, to focus on Ryuuji.

'_What is wrong with him?'_Taiga thought in confusion.

She had gotten used to a certain look that appeared in Ryuuji's eyes when Minori was even _mentioned_. His eyes would light up; almost like, amusingly, a dog that sees a treat within its reach.

She didn't see that look now. Instead, Ryuuji looked at Minori as if he was talking to anyone else.

He wasn't blushing, he wasn't looking away. He wasn't even pulling down the locks of his hair to cover his face, Ryuuji's personal sign of embarrassment.

Was he really that tired that he didn't even care he was talking to Minori for the first time since the summer trip?

Especially with that moment the two shared on the beach…

"Taiga."

Why would he be tired in the first place? This was _Ryuuji_, one of the most responsible teenagers that Taiga knew. She doubted that he would be up late at night messing around when he knew that there was school the next day.

"Taiga? You alright?"

'_So what the hell was going on here?'_

"Taiga!"

Taiga blinked as she realized that there was a finger waving _way_ too close in her face. Realizing, to her embarrassment, that she had been spacing out, and seeing the owner of the hand, she did the most appropriate action at the time.

Well appropriate to her anyway.

Ryuuji did not find it proper, and let Taiga know it by screaming at the top of his lungs in pain.

"What the hell, Taiga?! Stop biting my finger! Why would you even do that?! Never mind that, everyone else already went inside! We are going to be late! SO STOP BITING MY FINGER ALREADY!"

Taiga spat out Ryuuji's finger, using her sleeve to wipe her mouth and hide her amused smirk as she watched her dog grip his wound.

"That is what you get for invading my personal space, you perverted dog! You're lucky I don't beat you for that offense to your master!"

"Invading your personal… I was trying to get your attention! You were spacing out, I kept calling you but you wouldn't respond!"

Taiga huffed and turned away from Ryuuji, walking into the school gates.

"Excuses, excuses. That's all I ever hear out of you. Now hurry up, we are going to be late."

She had to suppress a smile as she heard Ryuuji stutter behind her; at least she had gotten the mongrel out of whatever funk he had just been in. He would be in pain for a while and that would keep him awake. With that stunt she just pulled though, Taiga knew Ryuuji wouldn't give her any answers as to why he was tired and in such a mood.

She would have to wait until they got home, she'll get her answers then.

…

…Forget asking Ryuuji on what was wrong with _him_.

She was going to use him to bounce off ideas on how to torture that _stupid Chihuahua_!

"…and when she goes through Samsara, I will make sure she goes through all different types of hell before she is reborn into the stupid Chihuahua that she is! Then I will kill her so she goes through it all again!"

"Are you still going on about that?"

Taiga gave Ryuuji her most withering glare that she could muster. He was quite sure he could hear people along the street mutter about the petite girl glaring up at the scary-looking delinquent.

"Yes! This is pissing me off! Why couldn't she just be queen herself?! We all know she would instantly win! Why do I have to be the one in this stupid event?!"

The source of Taiga's anger was due to the fact that she had been practically forced into the school's upcoming Campus Queen Contest in this year's culture festival. Every class would pick a girl to represent them, and the cutest girl would win.

With Class C-2 having Kawashima Ami, a regular model and appointed cutest girl in the whole school by all male students, it should have been an obvious choice who should have been in the contest.

However…

"_Sorry, but I can't participate. I am the MC for the contest. I'm so sorry! You even went all the way to pick me~"_

"_But hey, I think Aisaka-san would be an excellent choice, don't you all think so too?"_

Yes, Ami knew quite well Taiga did not enjoy contributing in such an event.

But whatever Ami suggests, the rest of the class would support with all their might, thus "forcing" Taiga to accept her role in the festival.

Never mind the fact Taiga accepted very quickly when her crush, Kitamura Yusaku, agreed with Ami's suggestion.

Ryuuji wished he could have seen the whole exchange; he was dead asleep during the entire commotion. He only found out through Taiga once she woke him up after class.

"You should stop wasting energy ranting about it, Taiga." Said Ryuuji as they walked towards the supermarket. "Open up your heart a bit. You are part of the class as well. You should be doing _something_ for it."

"I am doing something for it by being in that stupid wrestling…I don't even know what it is supposed to be? Seriously, who the hell thought of something that stupid?!"

Ah yes, the activity the class was doing for the culture festival. Ryuuji only somewhat remembered Haruta going on about that while in the male's changing room. Originally, the plan was for all the males to vote for a cosplay café, in order to see all of the class' females in maid outfits and other such clothes that they wouldn't normally wear.

But of course, with _Haruta _being in charge of something, nothing ever went smoothly, and due to Haruta's own stupidity it ended up with Class C-2 now doing some type of wrestling activity for the festival.

Why he didn't go with a majority vote instead of picking a random paper from the ballet, the class would never know.

No one ever did quite figure out who wrote down "Pro-Wrestling" as a vote.

"Someone probably wrote it down as a joke. Nothing we can do about it now."

"Tch."

"Let's just put it behind us for now, what do you want for dinner?"

"…Ginger pork rice."

"Right, why do I even ask? Well, if that is the case, I need you to give me your monthly living fee."

"Now?"

"Yes, otherwise I won't have enough cash to buy tonight's food."

"Fine, fine. Let's find an ATM, I don't have any cash on me."

With the added expenses of feeding a fourth mouth, the Takasu family did not make enough money normally to feed themselves and Taiga's gigantic appetite. So once every month, Taiga would give Ryuuji ten thousand yen to pay for food ingredients and other living expenses. It was something he was quite grateful for, because that was more than enough to pay for food and helped with other payments (such as the rising rent).

The pair took a detour into a close convenience store, and Ryuuji had to redirect Taiga into the direction of the ATM when she had caught the scent of oden. Ryuuji was about to head towards the magazine section to wait when he heard Taiga.

"Wait, what is going on?"

Ryuuji blinked and turned towards Taiga, who was pressing various buttons on the ATM.

"What's wrong?"

"No money will come out…"

Ryuuji glanced at the screen of the machine, and saw that on Taiga's balance it read "0 yen".

"Why would any money come out when the balance is zero? Don't worry about it, I will pay for today. Just pay me back when you receive the money."

He was about to enter his own card and withdraw more money when Taiga grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"No, wait! This is too strange…I know I had money in the account last time I withdrew…This is impossible…unless…" muttered Taiga.

Ryuuji would have rebuked her and told her she probably wasn't paying attention last time, if it wasn't the look on her face stopping him. At first it was a look of pure confusion, but slowly it turned into realization and an ugly scowl formed on her face. He held back a wince as he felt Taiga's grip on his wrist tighten, he was sure that was going to leave a mark.

"L-let's get out of the way for everyone else…"

He apologized to everyone else in line as he exited Taiga's account and lead her outside the store, her hand still grasping his arm.

"What is going on?"

This time Ryuuji couldn't hold back a grimace as Taiga's grip become nearly crushing, and Taiga turned her angry visage onto him.

"Recently, a person, my _father,_" Taiga spat out the word as if it were a rancid piece of food, "has been calling me. I've been ignoring his calls because they all irritate me. Now, it seems he wiped my account as _punishment_."

"That's…"

Ryuuji wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. On one hand, could he really expect any man to not be angry that his daughter wanted money from him but didn't want to talk to him?

At the same time, this was _Taiga's father_, the one who left her to her own devices in the first place. Who left the doll-like girl in that huge apartment next to him like a forgotten toy, only to be remembered once a month to make sure she didn't break.

Something about that just…aggravated Ryuuji.

It seems like that also aggravated Taiga as well.

"Damn you old man…I _really_ want to kill you now…"

"Taiga!" Ryuuji yelled, both in pain of her hold on his nearly broken wrist and in disbelief at her willing declaration to wanting to hurt her own parent, despite his earlier thoughts.

Taiga finally realized what she was doing and released Ryuuji's hand, turning away in embarrassment.

Before either party could respond, Taiga's phone started to vibrate. She grabbed the phone and opened it up.

Ryuuji immediately felt a crushing pressure from Taiga, akin to his first meeting with her. If he wasn't already used to her violence, he might have ended up on the floor like last time. He could see out of his vision that people walking near them felt uncomfortable, most likely also feeling the killing intent from the small girl.

He could easily guess who was calling Taiga now.

"That bastard! He is threatening me!"

"Even if he is, you should answer him. Nothing is going to change if you keep ignoring him, and you need the money don't you?" reasoned Ryuuji.

Ryuuji saw Taiga scowl at his suggestion but reluctantly opened the phone and answered the call. He decided to give her some privacy while he talked with her father, and went back into the store, checking out some of Taiga's favorite snacks to see if they were on sale.

Either she didn't take too long or time passed faster than he thought, because it wasn't too long after he left her did Ryuuji find Taiga walking towards him.

"Ryuuji, I need to ask you for a favor. Are you free right now?"

He did not like how Taiga was suddenly talking to him with a soft voice when only a moment before she was ready to tear someone's head off.

"I still need to do some shopping…"

"Never mind that, let me do the shopping for you. Give me your money, go draw more if you don't have enough. I promise not to buy junk food. I just need you to do this one thing for me."

If her voice didn't set him off before, her suggestion now certainly did.

"Taiga…" Ryuuji started, carefully picking his words, "…what is this favor of yours?"

"…I need you to go see my father in my place and get the money from him personally."

"…NO!"

"Why not?!"

"Why should I?! He is your father, shouldn't you be meeting him instead?!"

"Damn it Ryuuji, I am not ordering you to go, I am asking you to! Please!"

"Your father doesn't know me! What person would give money to a guy with a face like mine?!"

Taiga growled in irritation, "Use your mouth then, you are good at explaining things you damn dog! I will even write a note explaining everything to him if that isn't enough. Please Ryuuji, there isn't anyone else I can ask to do this but you! _Please!_"

Ryuuji shut his mouth at Taiga's desperate plea and took in her appearance. She was looking down, her hair covering her eyes and her tiny hands balled into fists. Her body was trembling, and he wasn't sure if it was out of anger or desperate frustration.

"You really don't want to meet him…"

All he got was a silent nod from her.

"And there is no one else you can ask but me huh?"

"There is no one else I can trust to do this…"

She spoke in the softest voice he has heard from her yet, and for some reason Ryuuji was pained to see the normally loud, aggressive Taiga _this_ hopeless.

He had no chance.

"Fine, I will go."

He caught a glimpse of a strained smile from Taiga as she finally relaxed herself, her small body no longer shaking.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

It really was no problem, Ryuuji realized.

As much as he thought Taiga should see her father and settle family matters on her own, if she was this distraught about such a meeting then Ryuuji had no qualms about going in her place. As long as it prevented this tiny, bleak Taiga from re-appearing again, he would help her.

Because she had no one else but him to rely on for help, no one else she could trust but _him_.

Ryuuji wasn't sure why that brought on such a happy yet sad feeling to the pit of his stomach.

* * *

A/N: The fact that the second chapter of my own story is little more than a filler somewhat disappoints me, but it can't be helped I guess. Also, as funny as the anime meeting between Ryuuji and Taiga was, I still prefer the light novel/manga meeting. Taiga is so frightening that she just _looked_ and Ryuuji was on the floor. Hell, in the light novels it seems like several students in the hallway fell on their asses as well, and she didn't even look at them.

Moving on...

Taiga interests me around this time of the series, starting from the moment she sees Ryuuji and Minori happy together on the beach (look at the manga chapter 45 for the exact moment, great scene.) It is at this point that she realizes that at some point, she will lose Ryuuji's safety and kindness and she will have to walk on her own. I don't think it really settles into her until the end of the festival though, because it is at that point she really starts focusing on Kitamura, even with his drama. Until then, she is still trying to find her place with Ryuuji, even though she sees him as a father-like figure. Especially with her own father being an ass of the highest degree.

But that is another bag of worms that I will pour myself into another chapter, most likely after watching/reading the series for the...I lost track of how many times I have re watched/read the series at this point. All I know is that I cried the first time I saw it.

...I love and hate this series. It makes me feel emotions to the point that I get physically sick. Or maybe it is because I have horrible eating habits? Either way.

P.S. At some point I will think of chapter names. Chapter 1, 2, 3, ect doesn't sit well with me for some reason. Meh.


End file.
